Another Ribbon, More Perplexing Thoughts
by AlternateDarkness
Summary: An odd urge to do something causes some introspection. Experimental fic. Mostly pointless. Contestshipping. One-shot.


Disclaimer (that I've always forgotten to add): I don't own Pokèmon.

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><p>May raced through the streets, hugging her ribbon case close. She had to find him, had to tell him that, finally, after so many losses, she'd gotten the last ribbon that she needed.<p>

She'd seen him when battling at the contest, maybe twenty minutes ago, in the spectators' stands, watching. So maybe he did know that she'd won a ribbon.

But he probably didn't know that it was the fifth.

It wasn't that she wanted to gloat or boast or anything (she knew that he'd gotten _his_ fifth ribbon quite a while ago), and she understood that running around to find him was slightly unreasonable (she _could_ just have called him), but, somehow, telling him, face to face, that she'd won the final ribbon needed for entry into the Grand Festival was important. Hugely important.

In her mind, May told herself that she just wanted _him_ to know that she was good enough to get into the Grand Festival (she herself already knew that) and that she was worthy enough to be his rival. The last part kinda stung, though, so she scratched that out.

Still, that didn't really justify having to meet up with him and shoving the fact in his face. (Really, what's wrong with using a phone?) May sighed. She was never going to find a good reason for anything concerning that guy.

And that was how she got lost in her thoughts and pretty much ran over that very person.

"Drew!" she squeaked, almost making both of them topple over.

"Unh. Watch where you're going next time, won't you?"

Suddenly, May felt jubilant. She'd accomplished everything she'd wanted so far. Passed the preliminaries. Check. Got to the finals. Check. Won the contest. Check. Found Drew. Check. Normally, there'd be some bump in the road, sometimes just the tiniest twinge of disappointment, but no, today was going to be a good day. An excellent day. Today, everything was just going to have to work out and be perfect. And all she had to do now was tell him about the ribbon.

So, even when he'd responded with that annoyed tone, May couldn't be unhappy in the slightest. On the contrary, she was just about to burst with the feeling of triumph that she had, and no one was going to make her feel down. No one. Not even her biggest Coordinating rival (who, for some odd reason, she just happened to have the slightest little crush on). Nope, not even him.

May just grinned at him cheekily and said, "Guess what?"

"You're going to stop running into me?"

"No. Well, maybe. But that's not it. Guess something else."

Drew groaned internally. Did she really have to be so annoying? I mean, playing silly little games like this was so disgracing. Granted, it was just May, so the image thing didn't matter all too much (though it was still important. After all, she was who he—no, don't think about it, Drew!), and she _was_ a lot better than those pesky fangirls, but still…things like this made her be around him longer, and she made him feel, well, weird. He didn't like that feeling.

So he replied, "Something else." That statement should make her get to the point, right?

"Ugh, fine, you boring person." She mock pouted for a second, but then grinned again. "I got my fifth ribbon!"

Which was a fact that Drew knew. After all, he did watch all of the contests he didn't attend on TV, trying to get a glimpse of the quirky brunette when he couldn't actually see her in person (just to try and see her progress, of course, not to see how her face shined when she battled and–never mind, I'm getting sidetracked here). So yeah, he did know that May had gotten the last ribbon that she needed, and he was, well, _glad_ for her, but he really didn't understand why she had to go and look for him and waste his time. Not that it actually was a waste, though, being able to see the real her, but Drew would never admit that. So he just did his signature hair flick and told himself that it was a waste of time.

"Good job," he muttered. "Are you done talking to me now?"

And so, due to his lack of a satisfactory response, May fixated a glare upon him. "Oh, come on, aren't you happy that your rival is 'finally good enough' to be in the Grand Festival? I mean, seriously, can't you at least act happy for someone just once?" There was now a hint of strain in her voice, almost like she was about to be on the verge of tears.

Gosh, how could she be so bipolar? Was she PMSing or something? (A/N: If that offends anyone, I'm sorry.) As Drew knew that he didn't really know how to act around crying girls, he decided to smile (though it still turned out more as a smirk,) and pick up a lighter tone, hoping that, when he did, she'd be back to normal. (In a place where "normal" means "not crying," of course.) "You did great, May, really. And I bet you'll actually make it far enough into the Festival for me to beat you!" For some reason, he just had to make that last comment, even if it did make his voice sound all high at the end and, well, not Drew-ish.

The change in his tone seemed to do the trick. May gave a little hop backwards, pointed at him with an accusing glint in her eyes, and sang, "I'm gonna beat you this time, that's for sure! I'm gonna beat you when the time comes! First things first, though, and that's celebrating my fifth ribbon!"

And so she grabbed his hands and proceeded to dance around with him, happily skipping about in circles and dragging him along with her.

After a good amount of time, she got tired, and May fell over onto the grass. Meanwhile, Drew stood, hunched over, panting. What in the world was wrong with her? She was supposed to hate him! Maybe not completely, but at least to some point, right? Though, obviously, that wasn't the case. So then, what _was_ he to her? A friend? He pushed the thought away. Because, in the end, did it matter what she thought of him? He was still her rival, right? She was pretty much _destined_ to hate him!

At this point, the otherbrain inside him (or other part of his brain, whatever,)– what was it called? Oh right, his _conscience_ decided to say that what she thought he was like _did_ matter, so Drew abruptly silenced the annoying little thing before it said anything else that was contradictory to mainstream thoughts.

By now, May had gotten up, and was now studying Drew with some concern. "Hello? You there? Hey! Earth to Drew!" She waved her hand in front of his face.

His mind snapped back to reality (Consciences _are_ only imagined, no?), and he muttered, "Yeah, I'm here."

"Good." Her face broke into a smile for what seemed to her the hundredth time today, and she finally felt truly content. Last thing on the list – Tell Drew About the Fact That She Now Had Her Fifth Ribbon and Have Him Say Something Nice. Check.

He smirked at her, though inside, he somehow felt unsettled (except it was in an almost-good way). "I'll see you at the Grand Festival."

May laughed. "And _I'll_ be the one beating you once we're there."

Drew couldn't help but smile at that, and, as he turned to leave, tossed her a rose, which she caught. For a moment, she stood there, wondering why he always would give her one, before finally deciding that it didn't really matter at the moment. Even if she didn't ask, he would eventually tell her the reason (if there was one), right? Then she realized, with a start, that he was walking off, and waved at the (very) slowly diminishing form of Drew Hayden while hollering, "I really am gonna beat you, just you wait!" May could have sworn that she had heard a chuckle in response.

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><p>The ribbon case mentioned at the very beginning of this story? It kinda disappeared.<p>

~AlternateDarkness


End file.
